Eva Hess Thaysen
Eva Hess Thaysen is associate professor of voice and head of studies as well as head of artistic research at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. She has taught at the Bel Canto Institute's extensive summer program in Florence, Italy since 2006 and has given masterclasses at the conservatories in Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Souchou, Milan and Florence. Eva is also teaches extensively via distance learning and in this connection she has taught to Manhattan School of Music as well as the conservatories in Amsterdam, Milan, Vilnius and Oulo.
BACKGROUND
Eva Hess Thaysen was born and raised in Copenhagen. After high school, she went to the U.S. to study, and in 1980 she graduated with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from Hamilton College, New York. She returned to Copenhagen and studied voice at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM) from which she holds a diploma in vocal performance and made her debut from the soloist class in 1989. In 2008 she completed a Master's degree in Elite Voice Pedagogy also from RDAM.
ARTISTIC PRACTICE
Eva Hess Thaysen made her debut as an opera singer in 1988 and has sung over 40 roles on stage - primarily over a long period at The Danish National Opera, but also with numerous seasons at Det Ny Teater, Aarhus Sommeropera, Den Fynske Opera, Den Anden Opera, The Underground and The Music Drama Theatre. The roles have centered around the lyrical coloratura soprano repertoire, such as Norina, Nanetta and Musetta, with detours to such different Mozart parts as the Queen of the Night and Donna Anna. The operetta genre has also had a prominent place, with Adèle, Cunegonde and Hanna Glawari as signature roles.
Eva Hess Thaysen has also been very active on the experimental music and theater scene at home and abroad. For a number of years, she had a fruitful collaboration with Kirsten Dehlholm and the performance theater Hotel Pro Forma, just as she has premiered a large number of works by both Danish and foreign composers. She has also participated in musical cross-over contexts, and her vocals can be heard on several jazz recordings - for example Palle Mikkelborg's Aura with Miles Davis.
Eva Hess Thaysen has been a soloist with all Danish symphony orchestras and has also performed with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. She has performed at festivals all over Europe and has recorded several CDs.
The Lied genre has always had a prominent place in Eva Hess Thaysen's heart. She has given numerous concerts in music associations across the country, and since 2000 she has been chairperson of The Danish Song Society, which runs a season of eight annual Lied concerts in Copenhagen and organizes seminars and master classes for singers and pianists with prominent international artists such as a.o. Bo Skovhus, Anne Sophie von Otter, Helmut Deutsch, and Malcolm Martineau.
In 2015 Eva Hess Thaysen initiated The Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition in collaboration with RDAM and the Soloist Association of 1921. The competition takes place every other year, next time in October 2023.
